The Dodgers have spent over $300 MIL in back to back years, and are the clubhouse leaders in Luxury Tax penalties paid. At a 50% penalty, the Los Angeles forked out $40 MIL in Luxury Taxes in 2016. With an estimated $204 MIL payroll – considering there are several roster holes now created by departing players, the team will need to spend around $235 MIL in 2017 total payroll. With a 50% penalty – and an additional 45% hit – for going $40 MIL over the new $195 MIL limit in 2017, I highly expect the organization will be less willing to spend 90 cents extra for every dollar spent beyond that. This means that they should not re-sign Kenley Jansen or Turner. The White Sox have the Closer, Third Baseman and Second Baseman needed to complete their roster/winter shopping – if a deal can be reached.

Last year the Dodgers were in the middle of a 3 way trade with the Reds and White Sox.

with the full rebuild going on in the south side of Chicago now, the Los Angeles Dodgers brass should be targeting some players back in return. This time they should acquire Todd Frazier, but I also think they should go for Brett Lawrie and White Sox team Closer David Robertson.

The total net projected salary of those 3 players would equal $28.5 MIL – which would be substantially less than what it would take to re-sign Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen. David Robertson has pitched for a big market like New York before, so playoff baseball is not foreign to him.

Lawrie would adequately replace the production the club had with Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick this past year for a fraction of the cost.

Having Todd Frazier’s power would really benefit the ailing/aging slugger of Adrian Gonzalez, and also the young and brilliant Corey Seager,

P- Corey Kluber (vs. Minnesota Twins): $11,300. Kluber has been dominant all year long. Over his last nine starts, he is 6-0, with a 1.75 ERA. Over his last three starts, he is 2-0, with a 1.93 ERA, and 22 strikeouts in 18.2 innings pitched. In 215 career at bats against Kluber, the Twins’ lineup is batting .223 with a .282 OBP.

P- Gio Gonzalez (vs. Philadelphia Phillies): $8,400. Gonzalez struggled midway through the season, but he has bounced back quite nice recently. Over his last nine starts, Gonzalez has a 3.20 ERA and opposing batting average of .219. In 123 career at bats against Gonzalez, the Phillies’ offense is batting .187, with a .248 OBP, and a .240 slugging percentage.

P- Carlos Martinez (vs. Milwaukee Brewers): $10,300. Carlos Martinez has been an incredibly reliable option in daily fantasy throughout the 2016 season. Over his last three starts, C-Mart has a 2-0 record, 2.14 ERA, and 16 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. He has won both of his starts against the Brewers this season, allowing one run on nine hits in 13 innings pitched.

P- Matt Boyd (vs. Chicago White Sox): $6,700. Boyd has been really good since joining the starting rotation. He is now 5-0, with a 2.38 ERA in eight starts. Over his last three starts, he has a 2-0 record, 1.89 ERA, and 14 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched. If he can pitch like he has been recently, I don’t think the Chicago White Sox offense can touch him.

P- Jameson Taillon (vs. Milwaukee Brewers): $9,900. Taillon has been incredibly consistent all year long. He is coming off one of his best performances on the mound this year after throwing eight innings of two run ball against the Houston Astros. His last eight outings have been quality starts. In two starts against the Brewers this season, Taillon has thrown 12 innings while giving up only three runs.

P- Marcus Stroman (vs. Minnesota Twins): $9,100. Stroman struggled mightily throughout the first half of the season, but he has done quite well recently. Over his last six starts, he own a 2.45 ERA and 47 strikeouts over 40.1 innings pitched. He has been racking up the strikeouts over his last few starts, which is obviously great for daily fantasy. Minnesota’s offense has been absolutely terrible over the last few weeks, so this should be great for Stroman.

Corey Seager is not even in the lineup to open the season but he is the overwhelming favorite to the win the NL Rookie Of The Year Award in 2016 MLB Action.

Update: I was wrong, Seager is was in the lineup for the opener. Having said this, there is no value to bet on him at the odd given, even though he is the overwhelming favorite.

Like we said the American League odds list, there is never a real need to play a whole season to win this award. That is unless you have to compete against a 2015’s winner in Kris Bryant, who was brought up in mid April last year.

Really this is Seager’s spot to lose.

I hate the odds for a guy who is injured to begin the campaign, nonetheless he would still be my pick for the Award.

Steven Matz has dubbed the 2nd favorite – along with Kenta Maeda. Both of these guys broke camp with the big club, and could make 26 – 30 starts this year.

I love the odd better for Maeda, who is slotted higher in the rotation than Matz. These odds are not glamorous to wager on either.

Perhaps the most intriguing guy on the list is Trevor Story. He is the starting shortstop while Jose Reyes is still on the inactive list – awaiting a resolution (suspension) for his part in a domestic dispute in Hawaii over the winter.

The Reds management started off the rebuild project nicely with the midsummer deals of Leake and Cueto last year. They also got a nice haul for 2 years left of Todd Frazier. However, due to a 10/5 rule for Brandon Phillips, and a domestic dispute killing the 1st Chapman deal (better deal than the Yanks forked out for his him), Cincinnati has been stymied in completing the quest. Our own Jordan Gluck ranked them as the 27th worst prospects team in 2015, and it has only slightly improved since then. It is going to be a long arduous process for the brass to pull themselves out of this predicament.

The Reds are part of a 6 pack of National League clubs that are really bad, and should challenge each other for 100 losses and the worst record in the Majors for 2016. What is worse is the financial flexibility is tied up in just a few players.

Simply put, the organization is looking to trade any veteran player that makes money. Jay Bruce has already been traded once before a deal was nixed from a few Minor Leaguer’s failing physicals.Read the rest of this entry →

Joey Votto had his best year since 2010 at the plate in 2015. It couldn’t have come at a better time. The Canadian Slugger will make $199 MIL min over the next 8 years and will be counted on to help with a rebuild. Either that, or maybe he could create enough value to be traded and the club could gain some financial flexibility going forward. The Reds finished 64 – 98 in 2015 – and are in the same Division as the top three teams in the MLB. They should continue to trade veterans for as many young players as they can – and rebuild for 3 – 4 years down the road.

Prior to the trade, Jagielo was ranked as the Yankees 6th best prospect and Davis as the 10th best prospect in their system by MLB.com.

It is worth noting that prior to this trade, it was reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, which involved top prospectJose Peraza, but this trade fell through after some shocking news was released about Aroldis Chapman.

The Reds management started off the rebuild project nicely with the midsummer deals of Leake and Cueto. They also got a nice haul for 2 years left of Todd Frazier. However, due to a 10/5 rule for Brandon Phillips, and a domestic dispute killing potential other deals, Cincinnati has been stymied in completing the quest. Our own Jordan Gluck ranked them as the 27th worst prospects team in 2015, and it has only slightly improved since last spring. It is going to be a long arduous process for the brass to pull themselves out of this predicament. Jesse Winker and Robert Stephenson join Jose Peraza as the top 3 prospects that could make the 2016 club.

The Reds finished 64 – 98 in 2015 and the situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. I predict 100 losses for the Cincinnati club for 2016, and they could really rack up some L’s especially past the trade deadline of next year if they do their job right in managing the squad.

I like the path the management has taken for trading players, unfortunately a domestic dispute cost the chance to flip Aroldis Chapman to the Dodgers, and the 10 – 5 rule cost them another opportunity to deal Brandon Phillips to the Nationals.

Obviously there is still hope they can trade these guys before they can’t do so anymore.

The White Sox should be decisively better in 2016, however to lump them in with the Royals right now for the Division is just not practical yet. However the team could hit on all cylinders and then add players as the year goes on. Chicago only stands to lose four player to Free Agency after 2016 in John Danks, Adam LaRoche, Al Avila and Dioner Navarro. The latter 2 were brought in on one year deals to provide the Catching tandem in 2015.

This comes on the heels of the club picking up Brett Lawrie for 3 years worth of service for a couple of Minor Leaguers.

Before these deals, the club really only hand secured a tandem of Catchers with Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro for the offense. Now they have much more depth, and are asserting themselves with one of the better lineups in the AL Central.

If Adam LaRoche can bounce back with his usual 25 HRs and 80 RBI power, you could have 3 Infielders and the Designated Hitter all crack 20+ HRs in the 2016 campaign.

By the moves they made, they could also trade LaRoche to another club if they were so inclined. There is no reason to think the Avila and Navarro couldn’t see some DH action for their roles in the 2016 club.Read the rest of this entry →

The Dodgers have not won or appeared in the World Series since 1988. With the spending the ownership will do in the next decade, I would be surprised if the team doesn’t rake in multiple championships. But it will take diligent finagling on the brass – to skate around the Luxury Tax with the pending CBA of 2017 coming in. Yes the ownership is willing to spend boatloads of money, but they have to be smarter than they were in 2015.

This article deals with sensitive material that will self destruct in a few years. Whether the current regime wants to be saddled with blame or not, or put most of it during the Ned Colletti days, last year’s fiscal budget was a dumpster fire.

Not only did the franchise exceed the Luxury Tax Threshold again at (over $189 MIL), they put it to shame – reeling in a lofty mark of $314 MIL in total Cap Spending.

For folks scoring at home, that is $125 MIL over the limit, and with a third year penalty at 40% now, the squad will take down a historic levy hovering around $50 MIL.

We wrote a blog back in April stating the disregard the brass took in approaching this year’s salary structure. The worst part about it was that it didn’t culminate into a World Series Birth.Read the rest of this entry →

The Braves acting GM John Hart has traded the entire OF, shed payroll, and tried to stockpile the Minor Leagues with a boatload of prospects – that should coincide with the opening for the new ballpark in 2017. The transformation has been swift and just.

Kris Bryant is about as sure of a prospect there has been in the last 5 years. Will the Cubs let him start the year in 2015, or will they send him down until the end of April to save service time. All you need to know about the franchises desire to win it all this campaign may be based on this decision. The young slugger had 40 HRs in the Minor League’s last year.

Top 100 Prospects

1-30

These are my top 100 prospects in baseball. There is a lot of talent in the minor leagues right now across almost all levels. Yoan Moncada signed after I wrote this but he would slot in the 8th slot right ahead of Joey Gallo and I do believe Moncada will be a stud.

1. Kris Bryant 3B CHC – He will hit for power and hit for a high average at what is an underrated position. He was the 2nd overall pick in 2013 and has the looks of a perennial all star.

2. Carlos Correa SS Hou- He was having a very nice season at the best hitters park in the minors in Lancaster before he broke his leg. I think he can stay at SS with almost all five tools with power rapidly emerging. He’s the future face of the Astros.

3. Corey Seager SS LAD- There are people who think he may get too big for SS and have to transfer to 3B but I think he has much more value at SS and can stick there for at least a few years. He should have an elite bat with plus plus power. Possibly the next Troy Tulowitzki with a slightly worse glove.

The Cubs at tied for 1st in having 5 players in our top 50 prospect list (3 in the top 12), and are stockpiling an impressive arsenal of young talent at the Minor League Level, and some players have already seeped into the Major Leagues. If most of these guys pan out, the Cubs will be a force to be reckoned with in the not too distant future!

Top 100 Prospects (1 – 50)

To make this list you must be able to meet rookie eligibility. To be eligible for a list, a player must have rookie eligibility.

To qualify for rookie status, a player must not have exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues, or accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the 25-player limit period, excluding time on the disabled list or in military service.

This list doesn’t include players in the 2014 Draft nor the 2014 international signing period.

The Braves are right up there with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for best run organizations over the last 25 years. Some would say that Atlanta’s brass is the king at organizational bang for the buck from drafting a trading. The team reeled off a professional record – 14 straight Division Titles from 1991 – 2005. They made it to 6 World Series, unfortunately only winning 1 of them in 1995.

You guys are all in for a treat. Jeff Kleiner recently contacted me about a partnership merge for the website. He has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs. We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams.

Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective. If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.

In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball. He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job. So after the usual Video Clip and READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY button, you will find some serious &*!@?!#!

Jeff updates this page below on a daily basis. After you click on it….Bookmark it. There is a 3 year salary forecast and stats not listed here on this page. Jeff updates these pages daily and these changes include any Roster moves!

For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Braves Organization clickhere

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